Extragalactic Novae : IOP Publishing : 9780750312974 : 0750312971 : 12 Sep 2019 : Extragalactic Novae: A historical perspective takes the reader on a journey chronicling the study of a class of eruptive variable stars known as "Novae Stella", Latin for "New Stars". These mysterious transient objects, now referred to simply as novae, have been recognized since antiquity, suddenly appearing in the night sky before slowly fading back into obscurity. The book begins with a brief introduction to the early observations, including an overview of the role that novae played in the birth of extragalactic astronomy, and concludes with a discussion of how nova observations over the past century have contributed to our knowledge of close binary star populations in nearby galaxies. Along the way, the history of our understanding of the nova phenomena, in the Milky Way and beyond, is unveiled. In particular, the author describes how the enigmatic nova eruptions were finally realized to be the result